On June thirteenth in 1951,

Daddy bought his first car

I recall he took us with him

to the dealership at DeLabar Chevrolet

a four-door sedan, dark green

Mom and Dad sat in the front

Carol, Vivian and I sat in the back,

always arguing about who

would sit in the middle

every time we drove somewhere we

were annoyed by one sister

touching another, rude to the other.

In the front Daddy would be disagreeable

annoyed by something Mom had done

or said or because we argued in the back.

he would be cross, yell, swear at another car

who got in his way, or drove too slowly.

Cranky, we hoped he would see something

to take his mind off his anger or calm him down.

It was always tense, fearful, unhappy.

most of the trips were to his family

or a few summer drives somewhere to

where I can’t remember where.

On the way to grandma and grandpa

we always passed a house that had been yellow

then was painted lavender, I once

said I liked the color, Mom laughed

and would remind us that was Marie’s house.

Each time we laughed and hoped it would

coax Daddy out of his sour mood, too.

Then we would ride until we reached our

destination, happy to be with others

who would not be angry with us for

whatever it was we did, or for what the

world had done, or something we

hardly understood where his anger lay.